Michael Ray Details His Secret Proposal To Carly Pearce

posted by Hayden Brooks -
Feb 15, 2019

Back in late December, word spread that Michael Ray and Carly Pearce got engaged to one another. Now, the country pair is opening up about the romantic milestone, which took place in the calming area of Tulum, Mexico.

In their new story for PEOPLE, the newly-engaged couple detailed the marriage proposal, which took place December 19 and was preceded by a long list of "traditionalist" items like asking Pearce's parents for their daughter's hand in marriage after six months of serious dating. "I wanted this to make The Bachelor look like a date night at Applebee’s. She’s always aware of everything," Ray told the outlet of the proposal, admitting that the intricate part of the arrangement was keeping everything under wraps. At one point during the trip, which included her parents' attendance, Pearce even asked if all was okay because "[Michael] was just so quiet."

"In my mind I’m going, just give me 15 hours and all of this is going to make sense," he told the magazine. "So I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ I made up something about the stress of touring and closing out the year."

Elsewhere in the feature, the two detailed the over-the-top floral arrangements, professional photographer and even the mariachi band. "I said to myself, 'Michael, if you are not proposing to me, you’re going to have to take me to the moon to propose to top this,'" Pearce recalled. "Like, please do not do all of this and not be proposing to me."

Thankfully, it was all very real and the magic of Tulum is still settling with the country star. "It's real," Pearce says of their engagement. "He asked me to marry him. He gave me [the ring]/ And yes, it's beautiful — and it’s huge, but for me, I feel like I’m wearing his heart on my hand."